God in a Box
A demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to Him. He healed him, so that the man could both speak and see. And all the crowds were astounded and said, “Perhaps this is the Son of David!”
When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “The man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”
Knowing their thoughts, He told them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, who is it your sons drive them out by? For this reason they will be your judges. If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. How can someone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house. (Matthew 12:22-29)
If God can do anything, can he make a rock so heavy he can’t lift it? The religious establishment of Israel thought they had just such a way to show up Jesus. They brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. Since communicating with him was essentially impossible, they figured there was no way Jesus would be able to cast out the demon. According to widespread Jewish belief at that time, only the Messiah would be able to fix such a person and the religious establishment had decided Jesus wasn’t the Messiah. His failure would then prove them right.
But Jesus healed the man easily. The crowd was astonished. They couldn’t help but think that Jesus must indeed be the Son of David—that is, the Messiah—though due to the presence of their religious leaders, they posed it as a question rather than making a clear statement.
Jesus consistently refused to take up residence in the box the religious establishment had created for the Messiah. But Jesus did wonders that only the Messiah could do. So they finally accused Jesus of being powered by the Devil. Otherwise, they’d have to acknowledge he was the Messiah, and that seemed more impossible to them than their ridiculous suggestion. A suggestion that Jesus easily dismantled. People are willing to go to remarkable lengths to shore up their beliefs, especially when their pride is on the line.
